Just recently we wrote a post on India’s highest selling car, which is the Maruti Suzuki Alto. Now its time to look at the other end of the scale. Which is India’s lowest selling car? The answer is quite shocking. India’s least selling car is indeed a global success, the Toyota Prius. The Maruti Suzuki Alto sells 99,000 times what the Prius sells. But how did the Prius become such a massive failure, in one of the largest car markets in the world?The Toyota Prius was first launched in India in January 2010 and the new Prius was launched in January 2012. The Prius is brought into India as a completely-built-unit (CBU), which results in a hefty duty of 110 percent. Available in two variants, the Prius Z3 is priced at Rs. 34.31 lakhs ($65,000) while the Prius Z4 is priced at Rs. 36.18 lakhs ($62,000). These prices are insane, considering similarly sized gasoline alternatives are priced below $20,000, which is one-third the price. A person would take more than 10 years to recover the additional savings offered by a hybrid vehicle and we are not even factoring the additional cost of battery replacement. Also spare parts availability is an issue and parts are not readily available. Since the volumes are so low, no Toyota dealer stocks them.

Now you would like to know how many units of the Prius Toyota sells every month. It is not a a difficult question to answer. For the first four months of 2012, Toyota sold zero units of the Prius in the Indian market. Last month, they managed (don’t ask how) to sell one unit.

Faisal Ali Khan is the owner/operator of MotorBeam.com, a website covering the auto industry of India.

How sad to have a psyche so invested in “I’m a REAL car guy and only drive at 11/10ths in muscle cars like a REAL man GRRRRRRRR” that you cannot see the Prius for the technological marvel it is.

For many, many people far more interesting than you the car is merely an appliance to reliably convey them to whatever they really care about. A real car guy would be able to appreciate that, rather than going off on yet another tedious attack on Toyota because he needs to inflate his sense of superiority via whatever he drives.

As to why it’s not selling in India, well, being wholly unsuited to the “roads” they have there, and also at a price far outside what 99% of the population can afford, I don’t think the real reason is hard to discern.

Interesting post . . . and I wonder what the point of having such a high tariff on that car is. I understand the basic purpose of tariffs is to protect domestic industries from competition and, sadly, they impoverish people all over the world by doing so.

But the Prius, even with out the tariff, is a special kind of luxury car. That is, much less expensive cars deliver equivalent or better functionality, in terms of comfort, passenger capacity or on the road performance. Like other luxury cars, the Prius makes a special statement about the buyer . . . and only some buyers can afford to spend for that kind of thing. Most buyers just need basic transportation.

When I visited Scotland, I saw people driving around smaller cars that got Prius-like mileage at a fraction of the cost, and that were a fraction of the size.

These aren’t available in the US, so anyone who wants the kind of MPGs the Prius can deliver has exactly three choices:
1) Prius, 2001-present
2) Geo Metro 3-door, 1995-1997 (or was it 2001?)
3) 1st-generation Honda Insight, 2000-2006

Here are some choices available in the UK:
http://www.broker4cars.co.uk/most-economical-cars-in-uk.htm
Their gallons are bigger than our gallons, so that 80mpg diesel is closer to 60mpg US.

In the developed world the Prius shows one “green cred”. In the developing world people with money are not interested in “green cred”. If they want to “show off” they do it with the latest version of Aston Martin, or Mercedes, or whatever. Even the so called middle class when given a choice between VW Diesel of comparable size / fuel consumption / price to Prius would pick the diesel vehicle over the hybrid.” Green cred” when it comes to vehicles is something that’s mostly practiced in USA. Not so much in the rest of the world. Of course, they have other ways of showing vanity but the Prius is not one of them. Just like DC Bruce says, the developing world is looking for basic, economical, no frills transportation. For most, a 70hp 1.4 l diesel engine that gets 60 mpg is enough.

In the developing world and in Europe, you have the option of a basic 60mpg vehicle. Not so in the US. The Prius is the only realistic way to insulate yourself from the volatility of fuel costs.

I don’t deny that the green cred helps to sell the Prius, but the novelty of it wears off pretty quick. And, yet, most Prius owners keep their cars for years and years after that green halo fades and are still happy with their purchase.

Ask yourself why that is, then look at the car. It turns out it’s a very sensible, practical, reliable, and efficient car — exactly what you want out of a transportation appliance. So, buy the car for the halo — keep people it because it’s a sensible daily driver.

If you’re not in to sensible transportation appliances for your daily commute, though, then the Prius probably isn’t for you. But, as one of Toyota’s top sellers in the US, it really is for a lot of people.

BTW, Faisal, what kind of competition the Prius face at those prices in India?

The Prius also sold in Indonesia for around the same price. No, I’ve never seen one on the street. I’ve seen Ferraris and Lamborghinis on the street, but no Priuses. At that price people would rather get a BMW 325i or Mercedes C-Classes.

The majority of the world buys cars for one of two reasons, practicality or vanity. The Prius doesn’t fit either. It’s size, and cost over the cars life don’t make it a practical choice. Other than the Hollywood types nobody is going to be showing it off to his friends and neighbours. The Prius like all the other electric/hybrids is a niche car selling to the faux greenies. As the economy gets worse you’ll see fewer of them being sold because in the end it all boils down to what you can afford.

How do you square your hypothesis with the 2.6 million Prii on the road?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Prius#Sales

There’s around 2.6 million people who disagree with you, apparently.

I agree that the Prius really is for people who want to live a mainstream 1st world lifestyle while wasting a little less — so if you’re a vegan who doesn’t own a car, you can call Prius faux greenies. Driving a Prius won’t save the world, but it does let you waste a little bit less.

Yeah, that’s true — there aren’t many takers in India, and I wouldn’t pay $65k for a Prius.

I’m an enthusiastic Prius owner. But, it’s a middle-class car with a clever drivetrain that’s more useful than it looks, but I’d pay a middle-class price for it.

My impression, from hanging around with a lot of Indian graduate students and colleagues, is that Indians are too busy riding motorcycles and driving diesel-powered compact SUVs (depending on their personal wealth) to want a $65k Prius. I like the Prius a lot, but given what I’ve gathered about India, I’d make the same decisions if I lived there.

Does the same subculture that embraces the Prius in the developed world — generally middle-class and wealthier, liberal/left, environmentally aware, and wanting to signify their “green cred” — even exist in India? I say this as a left-leaning, environmentally conscious person myself: the Prius is as much a status symbol among the crunchy green crowd as a loaded Buick Lacrosse among the residents of Leisure Acres. If you’re in a town like Berkeley or Boulder, it sends a message to your neighbors that you share their values, that you belong, that you’re part of the group.

It seems like the market for the Prius just isn’t there. It’s probably a slow seller in other developing nations with only an emergent middle class, too.

Fuel is incredibly expensive in India (in terms of purchase power parity), and cars are also very expensive (in PPP terms).

So, people will work really hard to save fuel there. As one of my Indian colleagues told me recently, motorcycles are a way of life there. They use less fuel, they cost less, and the only downside is getting rained on and somebody occasionally gets mauled.

The Prius doesn’t fit in to the Indian economy, just not for the reasons you proposed.

But also note that even without the tariffs the car would be 2x more than many popular cars. Plus, the Prius doesn’t get any better mileage compared to the sub-1-liter engine displacement cars. Diesel is subsidized in India, too. All-in-all, the Prius would be an expensive luxury car, but without the nameplate of something like Mercedes or Rolls Royce.

I know I’ll probably get banned for this but…. This could be one of TTAC’s dumbest posts ever. And not because there is anything factually wrong with the article. It’s actually very interesting to see what the rest of the worlld is up to.

The problem is the underlying irrational hatred people have of the Prius. Let’s review what a great car it is. It is a wildly practical, inexpensive, incredibly efficient, technologically advanced automobile. When priced at a reasonable amount, it sells well for all of those reasons, not because of some holier than thou desire for lefties to appear green. I’m so over that tired old internet meme.

Toyota sells every one of these cars it can make. They sell them in countries that have the space, income levels, gas prices, taxation levels, sophistication, infrastructre, etc to sell in large quantities at a profit. This precludes a whole lot of the world-developed and developing. The taxation structure favoring small cars and diesles in Europe makes them unsuccessful there. The aversion to midsize cars in Canada makes them unsuccessful there. The import duties in China and India make them unsuccessful there. And these kinds of issues affect cars of all types in all markets.

But we are given these pereiodic posts about how unsuccessful the Prius is because it is not selling in a market that Toyota has absolutely not committed it to. As if it is some sort of revelation about just how stupid we Americans, lefties, Californians, Japanese, Toyota, or whoever is the target du jour are. I’m so tired of it, and I expect this on Autoblog, not here.

However, I fail to see where you detect ‘underlying irrational hatred’ for the Prius here at TTAC. There are some who hate it, and some who love it. But I think the Prius has become so mainstream that the ‘green snob’ appeal of it has evaporated completely, and many view it with indifference – sort of like a Chevy Malibu with much better fuel economy.

You’re defending its mainstream acceptance which I think already exists.

The fact that the Prius is not mainstream – or not even close – in another market is interesting. Actually, you’ve helped explain why, in a way the article didn’t – thanks.

At $65,000, with all the “advantage” that the car have (vs its competition) pretty much leaves the desire to appear green as the only reason to go for the Prius. Unfortunately those desires seem to be rare or non-existent in India.

Thanks for getting my point, gslippy. Now if we could just apply som of what i said to everyone of these ridiculous “Brand X doesn’t sell in this corner of the world” posts, we would have a lot less to rant about here.

I do think that some of the posts here, and unfortunately the new addtion of Mr Khan, reveals a renewed passion for Prius as the anti-Christ to auto enthusiasts. As another poster pointed out here, the venom directed toward Prius has an almost religious fervor to it. I’m not sure that has subsided much in the auto blogging community.

To avoid being banned, I have tried to avoid using the dreaded B word, and have tried to back up my claims with thoughtful analysis and some research. I hope that’s enough.

The anti-Prius mentality is directly related to the overwhelming pop culture mentality Prius owners forced on all of us non-Prius world savers. If someone tries to shove their ideals down your throat, expect a violent response.

Before the Prius became the fedora of cars, I thought they were a decent little car for perhaps an elderly couple on a fixed income. Now, they’re driven by celebrities, hipsters, and bumper sticker activists that demand others make the same choices they do. On my normal commute in the Seattle area, it’s a GIVEN I’ll come across a Prius with liberal agenda bumper stickers all over the back little window with crude slogans on them telling me how to live. I’m convinced Toyota made that design queue in the body just for arrogant bumper stickers. Makes me want to change my oil and pour it down a drain or pour gas in my windshield squirters.

I delight in passing them in my Mustang. Thanks for saving some gas so I can use it later.

“The anti-Prius mentality is directly related to the overwhelming pop culture mentality Prius owners forced on all of us non-Prius world savers. If someone tries to shove their ideals down your throat, expect a violent response.”

The fact that people still subscribe to this played out South Park internet meme is why we still get stories like this. 4 million Toyota hybrids sold around the world to a buncha loony left pinko eco weenies, hipsters and celebrities. Sure thing.

“On my normal commute in the Seattle area, it’s a GIVEN I’ll come across a Prius with liberal agenda bumper stickers all over the back little window with crude slogans on them telling me how to live.”

And in Nebraska you see F-150s with gun racks and Bush/Cheney stickers. An American favorite that sells quite poorly in other parts of the world BTW. Does that make the F-150 a bad vehicle?

The taxation structure in Europe Marc, is not what it used to be…diesel is more than gasoline in most European countries now. Five to ten years ago diesel used to be cheaper than gas in Europe. The simple answer why hybrid cars are not successful ANYWHERE but USA is as simple as this: CHOICE. I am not picking on Toyota…Honda Hybrids have very poor sales as well. The rest of the world has CHOICE. They have lots of diesel cars…not just VW like here in USA. I am not going to count Mercedes, BMW and Audi diesels because those are not everyman’s car. If USA had Honda Diesels, Hyundai diesels, Toyota Diesels, Mazda Diesels, Nissan Diesels, the hybrids (all of them) would be dead in the water in USA as well. But since we can’t have all those diesels, the hybrids sales are MILDLY successful in USA ( yes I know that Toyota sells every car they make). Toyota has not committed in those markets not because they are lazy or they are running out of money but because they know they can’t compete with diesels in those markets…it’s as simple as that.

As for the superlatives you’re giving to Toyota such as ” wildly practical, inexpensive,….I don’t know about that…it did make me laugh though.
No, you will not be banned. Here, everyone is entitled to their own opinion…no matter how wrong :)

You’re wrong about diesel in Europe. And maybe about me being banned, as I did not see the posts I sent in response to you. Let’s try it again. (It’s better this time anyway.)

Check out this site. It compares diesel and gas prices, with and without taxes. Europe governments outside of the UK continue to favor diesels. And Europe of course favors small cars. As I stated because of these facts, not opinions, Prii will sell less in Europe.

Continuing on. You talk about choice. You think that all of us in the US would choose diesels if we had the choice. I’ll give you a choice. VW Jetta diesel vs VW 2.5L gasser. Yet the take rate is only around 30%. And that’s compared to the miserable 2.5L. How would those diesels sell if VW chose to give its gas car a decent engine. Choices.

Like choice to aggressively market and sell a car where it will sell well. Again, my point is that anywhere a hybrid makes sense, it will sell. Even Canada is finally embracing Prii, because they love small cars and minivans, hence the Prius V and Prius c are making inroads.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/driving-it-home/prius-sales-soar-as-it-becomes-the-third-best-selling-line-in-the-world/article2446621/

Or choice to buy a hybrid. 4 million people have chosen to buy hybrids. Guess we’re all dumb, gullible American greenies. Or not, considering that 3/4 of Toyota’s hybrids are sold in the other 80 countries where they are marketed.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120522/AUTO0104/205220420/1148/rss25

So where does that leave your argument? With opinions. You may think mine are wrong, but that is why I use facts.

I am not sure in what part of Canada, the Prius is very popular, but here in the Maritimes where I have been currently residing for the past two years, diesel Tdi is king. No I don’t have connections with the local DMV to give you exact stats, but in my profession, I am pretty observant. Very, very few hybrids of any kind and the ones I see are Floridians escaping Florida in the summer.

As for the Europeans loving small cars…that’s a funny subject. Yes, for their small roads, the small cars are very practical. Do they love them? Hardly. I have family and friends in two European countries. Most everyone’s dream is to have a mid size or even an SUV. I am not sure if you’re aware, but in most countries there, the registration is based on cubic centimeters. Anything above 2000 cc, you must be rich to own. Now do you understand how they ” love” small cars? The governments are forcing them to love them. Quoting that Toyota sells hybrids in 80 countries doesn’t really make your argument strong. They sell them in India too right? I am sure they are one of 80 countries….what does it mean?

The way CARB is going we too in USA will HAVE to learn to love hybrids one day…just like the Europeans ” love” small cars. I am afraid of that time…

You’ve obvioulsy missed my point completely if you responded by asking me in what part of Canada the Prius is popular. My whole point is that in much of the world the Prius is not popular, and that this is not in any way shape or form, newsworthy.

The Prius is not designed to be popular in Canada, a country about which I know a little, as I resided there for 17 years. The Prius V and Prius c are much more in line with their tastes. And that is actually a noteworthy story. Also noteworthy was Toyota developing the Etios for India. Similar to that strategy, Toyota now has developed new hybrids that appeal to different parts of the world, where original Priuses were never designed to compete. The Prius selling one just one copy last month in India IS NOT NEWS, and this story should have never made the cut.

As a Prius owner and enthusiast, I agree with what you’re saying here. But let me argue your case from a more technical perspective:
* The word in the Prius enthusiast community is that the 2nd-gen (2004 and newer) Prius battery lasts about 250k miles.
* Refurbished batteries cost $1500 from aftermarket rebuilders, and OEM batteries cost about $3k from Toyota
* A single able bodied person can replace the battery in their own driveway in about an hour.

So, from a long term TCO perspective, owning the battery in the 2004 and newer Prius really is similar to owning an automatic transmission. Except that they take less labor to replace.

The transaxle in the Prius is far simpler than any automatic transmission on the market (it’s basically a differential gear), and the transaxle-related failure most commonly seen in the Prius enthusiast community is the failure of the motor-generator that is bolted directly on to the transaxle — rather than the transaxle’s mechanical component itself. Toyota reportedly likes to sell the entire transaxle+MG as a single unit, but individuals usually just swap the motor-generator without replacing the transaxle itself. So, the Prius is likely to be even easier to service at >200k miles than a car with a conventional automatic transmission — at least for people who are willing to read up on how to do the work. If you have your car serviced by the Toyota dealer, having a Prius is like having a car with two automatic transmissions in it. If you’re a shadetree mechanic, it’s like having a car with one automatic transmission in it.

In other words, I agree with you 100%. But, if you had argued the case from a more technical perspective, it would have been more effective.

Nice try, but unfortunately logic does not apply in religious debates.

When somebody has formed an illogical opinion ie women can’t drive, American cars are junk, Prius owners are showoff eco-hippies driving overpriced cars with cumulative pollution footprint worse than a hummer, there is no changing their minds.

For some people this has turned into a personal mantra that they love to repeat at any opportunity.

If you said, I just bought a nicely equipped, midsize hatchback with outstanding reliability, lots of modern technology and fabulous mileage for under 25K the response would be; good for you for any other car on the market.

For a Prius get ready for the vitriol represented by many of the post above.

I have tried but I still don’t get it why does the mere mention of a Prius get so many peoples blood boiling?

After all it is just a car, one that is build to get you from A to B without unnecessary waste. So why all the heat?

I agree with the analysis that India doesn’t have a real middle class. Most would be lucky to have a Nano, they can’t afford a Prius with or without heavy tax. There you have 99% of the population gone instantly. The other 1% must be seen in an Aston Martin to show that they belong to the 1%. Oh, and that Aston Martin is Indian’s very own brand.

As a Prius owner, I agree. The car handles poorly on gravel — much less the kind of roads that my Indian friends describe.

While India has many world-class cities. But many of the more rural roads that my Indian friends have described would be called “trails” here in the US. The Prius has a lightweight suspension, very little ground clearance, and very little wheel travel. It’s designed for the paved road.

If you never leave downtown Bangelore or the superhighways, then a Prius-like vehicle might work for you, though, I guess.

Hey all you Prius haters. US military personnel are buying them. These ladies and gentlemen are not exactly know to be namby-pamby tree hugging eco-weenies. 20K for a Prius C as daily driver? Makes a whole lot of sense to me. Will I buy one? No. I’m looking for my middle aged crisis car. Now a Prius for geezerdom sure looks good.

And just by making that statement, you have revealed your hand, Mr Khan. Do we on TTAC now judge our cars by what Consumer Reports has to say about them? Especially when every other site, this one included, has lauded the car?

“A person would take more than 10 years to recover the additional savings offered by a hybrid vehicle.”

I really hate to shout, but comments like this make me wince because they betray a complete lack of understanding about the demand for technology. So indulge me as I try to make this point as bluntly as possible:

EARLY ADOPTERS DON’T BUY HYBRIDS TO SAVE MONEY.

Let me try that again, just in case you missed it the first time:

EARLY ADOPTERS DON’T BUY HYBRIDS TO SAVE MONEY.

And just to be absolutely sure that the point wasn’t lost:

EARLY ADOPTERS DON’T BUY HYBRIDS TO SAVE MONEY.

Late adopters tend to think in terms of pure cost-benefit, plus they demand value. Early adopters are very, very different — they don’t mind paying a premium if they believe that they’re getting leading-edge technology or some other non-economic benefit.

That being said, the predictable effect of a high import tariff is that the import market is going to largely be limited to status seekers who don’t mind paying very high prices. That won’t be good for cars such as the Prius, as they aren’t marketed based upon a type of status that Indians appear to care much about. Developing countries on the move don’t tend to care about green, except when it’s the color of money.

Before commenting further, I would suggest that you read Geoffrey Moore’s classic book on technology marketing, Crossing the Chasm. The lessons of the book and the Technology Adoption Cycle can be readily applied to the Prius.

In the end, like all things, it boils down to money. Yes early adopters don’t buy based on cost but the rest of us do. I think that as earning power and with it disposable capital is eroded by the failing world economy there will be fewer early adopters. We already see the beginnings of a pull back in the auto industry with people keeping their cars longer and opting for used cars. There will always be people with money but their numbers are declining not increasing. The hybrids and diesels cost more to buy and they don’t return that money over a typical life cycle so people with limited resources don’t buy them.